Washington state’s controversial “sanctuary law” is facing renewed criticism from elected officials concerned about its limitations on local law enforcement collaboration with federal immigration authorities.
New data from the state’s Department of Corrections reveals that, despite the law permitting some cooperation, the federal government does not consistently follow through with detaining individuals flagged for deportation.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) places detainers on individuals it seeks to deport after they finish their sentences in state prison.
Although state law allows the Washington Department of Corrections to hand over these individuals to immigration authorities upon their release, the law also embodies restrictions imposed by the Keep Washington Working Act, passed in 2019.
This act generally prohibits government agencies from gathering immigration status information and restricts cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
In a recent lawsuit, the Washington Attorney General’s Office asserted that immigration issues should be considered federal civil infractions rather than local criminal matters.
However, several county sheriffs in Washington dispute this interpretation, citing concerns that the state law compromises community safety.
They argue that undocumented immigrants pose a risk to public safety, despite extensive evidence suggesting otherwise.
Regardless of these concerns, Washington law permits limited collaboration with ICE in specific scenarios, such as human or drug trafficking and child predator cases.
Data shows that, in the past decade, ICE has placed detainers on approximately 80 individuals each year without following through to take them into custody.
Specifically, between 2015 and early 2023, 733 individuals in state custody had ICE detainers but were released back into the community instead of being detained.
Jim Kopriva, spokesperson for the Washington Department of Corrections, explained that the detainers only allow for a short holding period for people who are eligible for release.
“The federal government would take it from there.
If they don’t come, then the release would be processed, out you go, and that’s kind of it,” Kopriva said.
Inquiries to ICE regarding the reasoning behind their failure to pick up all individuals flagged for detention were met with a refusal to comment on the discrepancy.
However, an ICE spokesperson stated that their preferred method of detaining individuals post-release is in a controlled custodial setting, rather than in the community.
This approach aims to ensure that arrests are made securely and directly transfer individuals identified as removable aliens from state or local custody to ICE.
The spokesperson highlighted the logistical efficiency, noting that it takes eight to ten officers to locate and arrest a single individual in the community, as opposed to the two or three officers required in a custodial setting.
Additionally, state data indicates that the number of individuals ICE seeks to detain has decreased over the last decade.
Kopriva mentioned that the overall prison population has also undergone changes during this period.
Currently, the average daily population in state corrections facilities hovers around 13,017.
Among this population, approximately 520 individuals currently in custody have ICE detainers, which is roughly 4% of the total prison population.
As Washington state continues to grapple with the implications of its sanctuary law and its impact on local communities, the ongoing gap between state provisions and federal enforcement actions raises important questions about immigration policy, community safety, and civil rights.
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